Bad Boy-Cat

This is a story of Boy-Cat being bad. He has recently taken to testing our limits (we think he knows there's a little one who will consume all of our attention on the way). He has been spending too much time devising plans of getting himself on top of the cupboards no matter the obstacles we put in his way. The other night he attempted to make a jump that was just too high, luckily I was right there and able to catch him literally by the fluff. It was a very scary moment. We have since reinforced our obstacles, and now he just cried wishing that he was on his cupboard with the view!

Relaxed

Chris took this picture of Missy last weekend and sent it to my phone while I was napping with Boy-Cat in the new sitting room (I love my old green couch). Weekends are for relaxing especially when it is cold outside, and I hope to get a few more kitty snuggles in this weekend while praying for the snow to melt!

Life Lately

Chris sent me this picture yesterday while I was at work, and I think it captures life perfectly right now...we're all trying to soak in the sun to make it to Spring. It feels like it has been a long winter, and we still have a number of weeks to go.

Here are some of the things that have been keeping us sane:

1. Netflix- we've watched a number of movies, and just finished season one of Homeland

2. The Library- I love looking up the top reviewed books in blogs and on Amazon and then renting them from the library. Having a due date to return the book motivates me to actually make the time to read. I just finished The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty; it was excellent.

3. Yoga and Gym Trips- I love exercising outside, but sometimes it's just too cold, so a trip to the gym or a yoga class always make me feel better.

Favourite Spaces- Bathroom Corner

Although this room has a long way to go, and I have major plans including a full paint job and totally new light fixtures before Spring, I love this space. With the cold winter we've been having, I've spent many an evening soaking in our deep claw foot tub, which I hadn't really taken advantage of until now. I added the snowflake garland at Christmas time, and liked it so much I left it up. I think one of the reasons I like this space so much is it has so many treasures I've collected over the years, and everything has a story (like the old liquor bottle or the cracked Japanese china jar on the little shelf above the tub.

In the picture below, you can see the old metal hospital table that Chris negotiated at Christie a few years ago, a wash-stand given to my by close friends, a pretty tray I picked up at Aberfoyle, a vintage suitcase and old painting I found at Goodwill

Here is a close up of the pretty tray. I think I paid $6 for it, and loved it the moment I saw it. The frame is wooden and the tray is ceramic. No room would be complete in our house without a couple of fruit jars. I have also added an old first aid kit and tin of baby powder for good measure!

As you can see from the pictures above, I'm not the only one who likes this space. This is Missy Cat's favourite bathroom activity- catching drips on her nose. In our old house, we used to let the tap run for her, now we use an old enamel pan to catch her drips.

Happy Friday everyone! Hope you have a good weekend, we're going to see a good friend, and I am hoping to get some thrifting or antiquing in at some point, definitely in withdrawl this time of year!

Stay Cozy

It's been frigidly cold these last few weeks, but it looks like we might get a bit of reprieve for the weekend! These two have been spending plenty of time snuggling in close to stay nice and cozy warm. We are celebrating my good friend Leslie's birthday this weekend and then heading to visit Chris' parents. I'm looking forward to checking out some thrift stores in their town as I've been craving a thrift shopping fix for a while now!

I hope you all have a great weekend and stay cozy!

Kitty Christmas Cards

We have caught our kittens in the act of enjoying our Christmas decorations each year, and each time I think, wow that could be on a Christmas card. In 2012 Boy-Cat launched himself into all of the ribbon we had just taken off the tree, and this past weekend, Missy decided to nestle in some wreaths before they went outside!

2012

2013

Life Lately

I'm currently light shopping for almost every room in our house...it is painful and I have not made one solid decision yet.

I made oreos again last weekend to bring to my friends house. They were better the second time around because I let the dough mix until it was full combined and balling up in my mixer.

The holiday cups and flavours are back at Starbucks- certainly an early indicator that the holidays are upon us!

I made wonton soup on Sunday night for the first time, and it was delicious. I somewhat followed this recipe.

This guy had a late night photo shoot a few days ago, I loved how they turned out!

Orange Tabby Love

I haven't blogged about my two furry loves in a while, so I thought it was due time.

Yesterday morning I came down the stairs to see this in our living room. She must have decided she was part of the fall decor (at least she's the right colour).

Boy-Cat has been awfully snugly lately and loves to be brushed in front of the fireplace. Here is a shot of him all curled up from last week. I have so much love for this ball of fur. 

Hope you all had a good weekend. I made it to the last day of a Aberfoyle with  one of my best friends. I will share some pictures of our trip and my finds later this week. I also heard from my wedding photographer that our pictures are coming soon- can't wait to share them here on the blog.

Cottage Weekend

We had a girls weekend this past weekend at my friend DA's cottage. It was a wonderful escape, and just what the doctor ordered with one month to go before the big day! We ate, drank, sunned, swam and laughed the whole weekend, it was truly wonderful!

On Saturday morning, Megan and I hit up a garage sale (of course), and I found a few great items including the sweetest little half pint Ball jar! I am planning to stain the crate and turn it into a side table!

The highlight of our weekend was definitely discovering, adopting and feeding this sweet stray kitten. We named her Mrs. Fuzz Tail. We all really wanted to take her home, but we thought she probably belonged to someone at the beach, as she wasn't afraid to come close and she was up for a few pets. She left with a fully belly, so we're hoping she made it home.

It was a great weekend, and definitely a little sad to be leaving this great view behind!

We've decided we need to make this trip an annual tradition because it was just so much fun. Sometimes you just need a girls weekend away!

Confessions of a Crazy Cat Lady

I have more photos on my iPhone of cats than I do of humans. I think it might be a problem. I don't like having too many cat posts on the blog just because it might smell of crazy cat lady, but here is a collection of some of my recent favourites. They are my babies after all.

Speaking of babies, huge congrats go out to my friend Jess and her husband Jon. Their sweet baby boy arrived a few weeks early yesterday. Jess is the reason this blog got off the ground, she is one of my forever friends, and she is going to be a great mom!

Living with Cats: The Vet Visit Episode

Forgive the awful iphone pictures, but this story was too funny not to document. We took the cats to meet their new vet and have an annual checkup on Tuesday. We bought one huge carrier for them when they were kittens to take them back and forth to their vet appointments and until Tuesday night ten minutes before we had to be at the vet, they didn't mind sharing a carrier.

So after many failed attempts, a few growls and a hiss or two later, Boy-Cat went in a laundry basket!

For some reason, they were much more content when they were in their own carriers. What a great first impression we must have made with the new vet!

The vet was great, and just over an hour after the terrible carrier cramming of 2013, they were both pretty comfortable on the couch (could have been the drugs)!

Loving Lately

So I was able to stay away for one week! In that brief time away, I actually come up with a few ideas for posts that I really didn't want to wait on, so i've decided to post when the creative juices are flowing. This may mean once a week or once every couple...so bear with me:) Thank you to everyone who told me you would miss my blog and for understanding that sometimes you just need a break! The kitchen reveal, a picture by picture to-do list and loving lately recaps are few of the posts I have floating around in my mind!

In the last two weeks we have made much wedding progress including my last dress fitting (I LOVE how it turned out), bridesmaid dress shopping in one day (i.e. 8 hours of shopping), my friend Cait came to visit and my mother-in-law to be threw me a wonderful shower!!!

Now on to a  few of the things I'm loving lately:


1. Using the vintage suitcases for storage- this one is holding all of my table linens!

2. Funny kitty sleeping poses- last week they both decided stretched out arms was the way to go...I think Boy-Cat looks particularly regal!

3. The idea of hanging my platters on an old plate rack. I saw this one at the antique show, but it was too pricey...it will be my summer hunt item!

Happy Friday everyone, hope you have a great weekend!

Jess

Wascally Wabbit

I'm pretty sure our cats didn't know what nature was when we moved to our new town. They're learning fast!


You may not be able to tell, but there is a small gray-brown rabbit taunting Mr. Boy Cat in this picture!



No-mad's Land

You'll have to excuse the lack of posting, it's moving week and we're beyond buried in boxes, meetings, and last minute details. I am taking a break to share some images of the weekend with you.

Turns out cats can sleep through anything on anything when they want to. Missy found comfort in the back of the lazyboy set on the kitchen table and Boy-Cat ignored all of the movement and boxes around him and gravitated to the warmth of the laptop on the couch.

I took this picture on the way home from a trip out to our new house and village. I love how small town it is, I love that there is a local coffee shop, community activities like fairs, scarecrow contests and bonfires, and the fact that I can walk to town in twenty minutes. 

We're moving on Saturday and thanks to a number of good friends pitching in, it shouldn't be too bad. I can't wait to be there and to introduce the kitties to their new home and a world outside of the burbs. 

Big Changes

We're less than two weeks away from our moving date, so we did some major packing this weekend. One of the big changes for me in the new house is that I will actually have a proper shoe closet (not the deciding factor I promise). Although this is very exciting news, it means having to say goodbye to the majority of my shoeboxes. For the last 8 years I have kept my shoes in their original shoeboxes, as you would have seen from this post. On the weekend, the shoes were packed and the boxes were recycled...and yes the cat's helped! I look forward to sharing their new closet with you soon!

Sweet Greeters

Chris told me the other day that when I am out or have plans in the evening with one of my friends, the cats patiently wait for me on the top of our closet. I didn't really believe him, until he sent me this picture when I was out at the movies last week! His text was "Patiently waiting for Jessica to come home #spoiledrotten". I love that they wait for me, I love that they greet me at the door when I arrive home, I wonder if it has anything to do with the treats I give them daily?

Happy Thursday everyone!

Family Day

It's family day in Ontario, and although we have plans to be out and about later in the afternoon, this morning we're spending some quality time at home. In the midst of packing, cleaning, crafting and cooking, my breaks pretty much look like this...

Happy Monday!

Reality of the Situation

I made these muffins on Sunday morning for breakfast. They were healthy, yummy, and they turned out great, so of course I had to take a photo for my blog.

In the spirit of full disclosure, the reality of the situation is that most of my food photography sessions, actually look like this:

Boy-Cat is fully engaged in the process...he doesn't even like muffins (unless they're cat-nip infused)!

Happy Wednesday. I will have some very exciting news to share soon!

Sweet Guy

I've decided it wouldn't be my blog without a regular picture of one of my fur-babies. I apologize in advance for anyone with a sheer hatred of cats, people who call their animals their babies or people who have far too many pictures of their pets (read: way more than I have of humans).

My little buddy was in this pose waiting for me when I came home from work last week. I immediately snapped his picture. I think it looks like we took him to Sears for a portrait session! 

Holiday Push

I don't have my Christmas decorations up, I don't have a tree (this Sunday hopefully), I haven't written all of my Christmas cards, and I haven't finished my shopping. Baking...what baking? The list has been made, but nothing has been baked!

That said, when I come home at the end of the night, I have these two sweet little ones to make it all feel ok:) I'm hoping to get a lot accomplished this weekend, and if I don't...that's ok too!

Mr. Boy-Cat sitting on the tub of decorations, it's his new favourite place!

Missy the Ham, lounging on Chris!